Biden administration reportedly ‘unimpressed’ by Ukraine’s victory plan

The Biden administration is concerned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan” does not offer a comprehensive strategy for winning the war, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Thursday, citing US and European officials.

According to US officials familiar with the main points of the plan, the document contains little more than repackaged requests for more weapons and the lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range Western missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia.

“I’m not impressed, there’s not much new in it,” one senior Biden administration official told the WSJ.

Zelensky is set to brief US President Joe Biden on the plan’s specifics during a meeting at the White House on Thursday. The goal of the plan, as described by Zelensky in recent media interviews, is to sufficiently strengthen Ukraine’s position on the battlefield to force Russia to the negotiating table.

A key part of the plan centres on the US lifting the ban on the use of its weapons against targets in Russia, Finnish President Alexander Stubb told the WSJ, adding that without such approval Ukraine’s proposals would ultimately be “less relevant” as Kyiv would struggle to respond to continued Russian attacks.

White House officials expressed concern that Zelensky’s plan failed to provide clear and tangible steps for the Biden administration to support during its final four months, the WSJ reported.

US and European officials told the WSJ that the most detailed parts of the plan were the requests related to weaponry, while other aspects of the plan remained underdeveloped.

Despite Washington’s reported hesitancy surrounding the victory plan, US officials on Wednesday announced the transfer of a further $8 billion (€7 billion) of military assistance to Ukraine, Reuters reported.